Harvesting southern pines with taproots is economic way to boost tonnage per acre 20 percent

Description

At the Southern Forest Experiment Station, we've been trying to extend the pulpwood resource by bringing more of each pine tree to the mill yard. The taproot of a 15- to 3-year-old southern pine weighs about 20% as much as the merchantable stem (Table I). Harvesting and pulping this waster material would greatly increase pulpwood tonnage yield per acre. But is it feasible to do so?